shoutout to all the players and spectators
shoutout to everyone who donated to the fundraiser
shoutout to EssentialsTF / Printstream for letting us borrow their hardware
shoutout to wonszu, supra and everyone who let us borrow equipment for production
shoutout to TurboTabs, Beater, Benpl, Not Steven, Meer and Wandum for some fantastic casting and for rolling with everything I threw at them
shoutout to Samus and Beater for goated observing
shoutout to Jon for fixing our FPS
shoutout to Antimation for sitting at home the whole time and churning out content for us
shoutout to Audiofall for capturing hype moments, interviews, and everything that makes LAN LAN
double shoutout to Samus for jumping on production so I could speed-eat pizzas
shoutout to supra and mały for LAN servers, anyone who complimented me on a smooth event direct that to them
shoutout to Sodium for solo adminning the event and making it work
shoutout to the BaseStack staff for putting up with us, feeding us endless pizzas and shots, and letting us stay well past closing time every night
shoutout to supra for making it happen, we're coming back next year right?
people at the bar afterwards asked me if it was worth it. if spending lan locked in the production box was really what I wanted. if I knew how un-appreciated producing is. if I knew nobody cares. I got to build and run the production of my dreams. everything I wanted has been enabled by staff, casters and players. in return I have received nothing but gratitude, praise and appreciation.
could I take what I've learned from TF2 elsewhere? easily. I can and have walked into productions for other, better paying games, but these three days have shown why I can't walk away from TF2. the days and weeks of work aren't going towards some corporate production for a crowd I've never met. they're going towards the best lan I've ever been to, for a community that (for better or worse) I care about, and that has shown it cares about what we do.
it was worth it. you made it worth it. thank you.
cu@